Correcting and replacing NCR/Wal-Mart release issued Feb. 10.

DAYTON, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Wal-Mart partners with NCR to triple size of its Data Warehouse; gains competitive edge with new customer preferences data

Giant retailer's data warehouse to grow to 24 Terabytes; order

includes Teradata RDBMS and 5100M WorldMark Servers

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has again partnered with NCR, the world leader in data warehousing, to dramatically increase the size and information analysis capabilities of its data warehouse by adding new customer preferences data.

As part of the contract, the computer maker will supply one new NCR WorldMark(TM) 5100M massively parallel processing (MPP) server and upgrade a second installed NCR 5100M from 32 to 96 nodes. The contract also covers NCR professional services, including database design, data transformation and data management, as well as maintenance.

The two WorldMark 5100M servers -- running NCR's Teradata(TM) relational database management system (RDBMS) -- will triple the size of Wal-Mart's existing data warehouse from 7.5 terabytes to over 24 terabytes.

With the increased capacity, Wal-Mart retains its position of having the `world's largest commercial data warehouse,' with more than 30 applications running on the system and handling as many as 50,000 queries in one week.

"This expansion is part of Wal-Mart's drive to deliver what its customers want: the right item, at the right store, at the right time and at the right price," said Randy Mott, senior vice president and chief information officer for Wal-Mart. "It's the ultimate form of customer service."

"Our business strategy depends on detailed data at every level," Mott explained. "Every cost, every line item is carefully analyzed, enabling better merchandising decisions to be made on a daily basis. It is the foundation for maintaining Wal-Mart's competitive edge and its continuing success in providing everyday low prices and superior customer satisfaction."

That competitive edge and commitment to customer satisfaction is underscored by the unique aspects in Wal-Mart's implementation. For example, although Wal-Mart's data warehouse incorporates information on a nationwide basis, that information can be tailored by store to allow merchandise buyers to gain insight into local purchasing patterns.

"Our extended partnership with Wal-Mart is another significant milestone for NCR," said Bill Eisenman, senior vice president of NCR's Computer Systems Group. "It underscores NCR's commitment to customer service -- as it does Wal-Mart's -- and NCR's expertise in building very large data warehouses to support complex customer information and decision-support systems."

Information stored in the data warehouse -- which is collected from the retailer's 2,900 stores -- will be used to enhance Wal-Mart's decision support system, particularly for the retailer's rapidly growing chain of Supercenters and Wal-Mart International units. Using the 65 weeks of data kept by item/by store/by day, Wal-Mart buyers and vendors can query and analyze information to make informed decisions on replenishment, look at customer buying trends around the world, analyze seasonal buying trends, make mark-down decisions, and react to merchandise volume and movement at any time.

The NCR WorldMark servers will be installed and upgraded by mid-97. One system is configured with 32 nodes, 256 Pentium Pro 200 processors and 8 terabytes of storage; the second server will be upgraded to 96 nodes, 768 Pentium Pro 200 processors and 16 terabytes of storage.

About NCR's Solutions

NCR's large-scale data warehousing solutions consist of the WorldMark 5100M server, NCR Teradata parallel processing relational database management system (RDBMS), and comprehensive consulting service and support offerings that are designed to help organizations analyze massive amounts of data to create a competitive advantage.

The NCR Teradata RDBMS software architecture provides unmatched processing power, scalability, connectivity and ease of administration required for business-critical data warehouse applications.

About Wal-Mart

Well-known as the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart had annual revenues of over $104.4 billion for the year ending Jan. 31, 1997, and has more than 2,900 stores and over 700,000 employees. Based in Bentonville, Arkansas, it has pioneered concepts such as Supercenters and its SAM's Club, which is a members-only shopping club that carries products at wholesale prices. A highly successful offshoot of Wal-Mart's traditional retail stores, SAM's Clubs comprise 20 percent of Wal-Mart's business.

More information about Wal-Mart can be found on the World Wide Web at: http://www.wal-mart.com.

About NCR

NCR (NYSE: NCR) is the leader in delivering commercial open computer systems for transaction processing and decision-support solutions to customers in all industries. The company, with headquarters in Dayton, Ohio, has 38,000 employees, including 20,000 service professionals in 1,100 locations and 130 countries. NCR solutions help improve businesses by turning customer information into results, protecting existing information technology investments, reducing risks and ensuring success.

More information on NCR can be found on the World Wide Web: http://www.ncr.com. -0- NCR WorldMark is a trademark and NCR Teradata RDBMS is a registered trademark of NCR Corp. All other product names are trademarks of their respective holders.

CONTACT: NCR Corp.

Kathy White, 803/939-6287

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Edelman Worldwide

Elizabeth Berglund, 212/704-4527

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